For fun.

Love toys. Love lights. Put them both together, and I will be in heaven. Hooray for the company that heard my wish.

Manual Labor

Welcome to my yard. Or what yard I have. It's not an actual yard, more like a section of grass and dirt that surrounds the corner of my apartment. But my managers encourage (to a point) that we use our space as our own. So this year, I am doing something with it. So far, this is how far I've gotten. Not too bad for only 2 days out there.



After several hours of cleaning and working the soil. This side is pretty much done, well in the prep stage I guess. Only doing planting between the 2 rose bushes, I am forced to keep. Have watched the sun for a few days and noticed, I get none. Pretty much stamps out most of the flowers I like. But my mom I'm sure can help me with some creative ideas for shady plants.



This was the first thing I did. I have a good space on this side of the building that has never been planted. For good reason. There is no sun. At least, not really. Late in the evening, the bit of dirt that extends out in the circle, gets a few hours of late sun. Heliotrope and impatiens. The impatiens are for Pria. They are cute, easy and colorful. She happily sits in the grass and watches them get bigger. The heliotrope is mine. It smells like cherries/vanilla...and doesn't make me sneeze. Of course I'm choosing that one. I still have about, 5 or 6 more feet that needs to be worked. The soil is crap here. A lot of clay and dries out. Lots of shoveling, turning and mixing in steer manure (honestly it doesn't smell that bad...) gets it moist and dark. Flowers will be happy there.




Once upon a time there was a bush here. It was removed. It didn't react well to the heat from the grill. Burning bushes are always a treat to have near your house. Before the managers could see what we did to the bush, I cut it down. I really don't think they even remembered it was there. And plus the grill is a distracting item to block where it would have gone. I never got around to digging the roots out though. Until now. I was stressed and what better way to get rid of it...then manual labor. So I grabbed my shovel and started digging. The fish eye doesn't do it justice. It was a big mess of roots in there.




Took me about, an hour maybe. Had my somewhat nosey neighbor checking in on me. He has been watching intently on what I am doing to my yard. As long as he doesn't complain to me, or take the route of he knows best...I will be good. The hole ended up about 2 feet deep, 3+ feet wide. Lots of jumping on the shovel to actually get the silly thing to come out. Cut what roots I could, ripped and pulled on the other ones.



I have done this before, and I knew I would win. Pria thought it was cool, and promptly planted it back in the hole.

"It grows now?"
"No, I tore it out. I don't want it to grow here."
"You killed it?"
"Yep."

I reveled in my prowes of kick ass gardener for a moment. Scarfed down an ecnhilada, some water, then started filling the hole back in. I think it was more work getting the dirt back in. Got it packed down, then added more, packed it down again.

Then I had an idea.

We have always gotten annoyed that the landscape people blow grass and dust all over the grill, because it has to be right next to the grass. But now the area behind the grill would be vacant. So I had the idea of stones. Just simple plain stones to extent the cement area we have there all the way to the house. The grill could be slid all the way against the house, and the slide could sit in front of it instead of in the flower bed.

2 bags of small gravel/sand and 16 blocks. The next project will start tomorrow.

Little piggies out to play

Yay playtime.


We did chalk time, which is always a fun barefeet activity.



Barefeet activites are favorite things as of late.



Nothing beats sitting in the grass under the shade of what tree we have, as little miss runs around watering the plants. I just need a better allergy medicine before I do it again :)